Articles by Daniel Wiessner

A U.S. federal judge has dismissed a worker advocacy group’s lawsuit accusing Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork processor, of failing to adequately protect employees from the novel coronavirus at a plant in Missouri. Smithfield is already taking many …

U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia on Thursday defended his department’s handling of workplace safety during the coronavirus pandemic, saying “the cop is on the beat” in response to union criticism about a lack of directives to protect workers. In a …

The U.S. agency that enforces workplace safety laws has said it will prioritize work site inspections of healthcare facilities over other “essential” businesses that remain open during the coronavirus outbreak. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said in guidance …

The family of a Walmart Inc. employee in Illinois who died after contracting COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, has filed a lawsuit accusing the retail giant of failing to adequately screen and protect workers. The lawsuit filed …

A U.S. labor board on Tuesday finalized a rule that will make it more difficult to hold companies liable for unlawful labor practices by franchisees and contractors, reversing a more worker-friendly Obama-era standard criticized by business groups. The rule by …

Mc Donald’s Corp. was sued on Tuesday by workers in Michigan who accused the fast-food chain of allowing pervasive sexual harassment to flourish at its restaurants nationwide. The proposed class action lawsuit filed in a Michigan state court accused McDonald’s …

Drivers for ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. are independent contractors and not employees, the general counsel of a U.S. labor agency has concluded, in an advisory memo that is likely to carry significant weight in a pending case against the …

By Daniel Wiessner The U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposal that would make it more difficult to prove companies are liable for the wage law violations of their contractors or franchisees, a top priority for business groups. If adopted, …

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday issued a proposal that would make it more difficult to prove companies are liable for the wage law violations of their contractors or franchisees, a top priority for business groups. If adopted, the …

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a long-awaited proposal on Thursday to extend mandatory overtime pay to a million more workers, far fewer than an Obama administration rule that was struck down by a federal judge. Currently, salaried workers are …